Swim Deep

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From humble beginnings come great things. For Swim Deep, their roots lie
in chance meetings through part time jobs and in the clubs of their
hometown of Birmingham. Fed up of stacking shelves in Morrisons, Austin
Williams and Tom Higgins decided to stop chatting about music in the
aisles of the supermarket and start making their own. Joined by their
friend Wolfgang J Harte they made their way through a succession of
"weirdo" drummers before eventually poaching Austin's best friend Zach
Robinson from local band Cajole Cajole.

"We played a gig with Cajole Cajole," recalls Austin. "We thought it was
a long shot but we'd just lost another drummer so we asked Zach if he
wanted to join our band and he said yeah. That was one of the best
things that happened, to be honest."

A few months down the line, with more gigs under their collective belt
and interest starting to grow, Wolfgang announced he was quitting the
band. After continuing as a three piece for a while and experimenting
with their live setup, Austin assumed the vacant position of frontman
whilst they recruited Cavan McCarthy on bass.

"We met Cavan on the dancefloor," explains Austin. "We were out one
night and I didn't like the look of him and he didn't like the look of
me. But after a few drinks and a couple of hours of being together, we
got on. I knew he couldn't play bass and he's never played any
instrument but we asked him to join the band because he loves music so
much."

With their new line up and the release of their debut single 'King
City', Swim Deep cemented their place amongst bands like Splashh and
fellow Brummies Peace as one of the UK's most exciting new bands.
Following exhilarating appearances at festivals such as The Great
Escape, Tramlines and Beacons over the summer, they upped their stock
further, announcing a deal with Chess Club / Sony RCA.

"I can't believe the amount of times I used to lie in bed as a kid
thinking 'imagine if you were in a signed band.' But signing is such a
small part of it,"Austin says cautiously. "If you get signed and you've
got shit tunes, you're fucked. It's all about the songwriting for us and
having as much fun as we can whilst we're doing it. We want this as a
lifelong thing - I want to do it until I'm old. I don't think I'll ever
be able to stop writing music."

Invited to join besuited indie giants Spector on their recent extensive
UK tour, Swim Deep don't look likely to be stopping any time soon. With
their stint on the road complete, they head off to Brussels to record
their debut album. Working with Charlie Hugall, the producer who lent
his magic touch to second single 'Honey', the band are looking forward
to the experience.

"It's gonna be a real bonding thing for us, all being together," says
Austin. "Since we've been signed we've met all these new people and we
all end up at different parties. I'm really looking forward to making
the album. It's the first album, it can only be made once".

Having moved away from the raw, punkier sound of early demos like 'Santa
Maria' and 'Isla Vista', the band are now moving in a more
pop-orientated vein but with their edge still firmly in tact. "I've got
a massive idea [how the album will sound] but I would never be able to
explain it," explains their leader. "We just want to write good songs
really. 'Honey' is a great example of how I want it to sound though.
Really bright and sunny, feelgood, funky and just real cool."

Looking further into the future, Swim Deep's ambitions are grand but -
with their talents and confidence - attainable. "I want to be something
original," says the singer. "There's bands like One Direction who shut
down cities when they go there and they're putting out fun songs but
it's not groundbreaking at all. I can't see anything that compares to
us."

"I want to have a massive influence on pop music. Not to be the biggest
band necessarily - that can come too if it's the right time and place -
but I want to be the most influential. I want to be a band that someone
wants to jam with, that someone looks up to."

With all the tools in place to achieve those goals, now it's up to Swim
Deep to live up to their early promise. Whatever happens, 2013 looks set
to be a lot brighter with these boys around.